When you find yourself facing a massive amount of distractions. There is often something you’d rather be doing it can be hard to keep yourself focused and reach your aims. This has started to be so much the case that there arising whole industries established around the idea of better managing your time and not becoming a victim of pointless downtime.

First and foremost though before looking to find out whether or not you are wasting your time it helps to find out what activities constitute a waste of time. Surfing the net isn’t, as an example, a bad use of time as long as it gives you an opportunity to collect your thoughts or take a break from your current issue. Being efficient with your use of time is about balance more than about abstinence.
As someone who is self-employed and who also has to spend a lot of time using the internet it can start to become very difficult at times to stay on topic. How do you put away the threat of distractions or better yet learn to use it?

The most important thing you have to consider is the notion of setting solid goals. When you begin fresh every morning with a definite and obtainable set of goals in mind then you have a better chance of succeeding. If you don’t have a plan then it becomes too easy to procrastinate and be unable to achieve anything. So create those targets everyday, but ensure they are obtainable.
The second issue as far as maintaining your focus is concerned is to make use of some stick and carrot mentality. When I was working with kids as an English teacher I soon learnt the value of small encouragements given regularily for good behaviour instead of big rewards being given rarely. This method works as well for adults too. If you enjoy a snack while you are working, as an example try to force yourself to complete your current job or at least a n amount of it before you let yourself get what you want. The same idea works for surfing the net, if you give yourself five to ten minutes an hour to do something you like then it will start to be a simple but highly effective system of encouragement to keep you working.

Learn to like challenges. If your current job is driving you crazy there are methods that can make life a little more interesting. Try setting yourself a small challenge. If the boss, or yourself if you are your own boss, asks you to produce a report don’t just write it, make it brilliant. If you work as customer service try and see how many compliments you can get everyday. This advice is mostly aimed at people working for themselves though because without someone making sure you finish tasks many of us tend to slack off.

The last trick to take to heart is that if you feel you are having difficulty with a particular job and just getting stuck then think about taking a short break and getting back to it in a while after a nice snack or after you have successfully finished an easier job. Getting stuck will have a negative effect on your efficiency, but completing something else, even something minor, will give you the boost you need to get past it.